Without a dedicated forum of their own, or so it seems after a reasonable amount of time scrolling down google. I was wondering if any serving NZ Army personnel could answer a few questions? The first one being can anyone tell me how easy it is for an officer to transfer between branches? So say if you were to join the Infantry after OCS and then after a reasonable amount of service, say 3-5 years would you be able to transfer to something like the Intelligence Corp or the Army Legal Service? Also the website made a point about providing funding and time off for further education, in practical terms how easy is it to get this funding and tiem off? Lastly, the British Army seems to offer a fairly concise timeline of how promotion works in their army, I couldn't find one anywhere on the NZDF website, so I was wondering what the time line for promotion between 2nd Lt, Lt and Captain were?

Callum,The structure for officer progression is fairly simple.1 Year at OCS 2 Years as a 2LT4 years as a LT (I realise that this seems a long time to get to Captain, however there are only 30 - 40 Officers graduating per year so the number of spaces are limited.)Minimum 4 Years as a CAPTTo get to MAJ you have to have completed a minimum of 11 years in total (from the day you started OCS), qualify on the Grade 2 Staff and tactics and the Officers Examination Board. After that it is all down to Staff college, War College and Defence against the dark arts ..As a General List Officer (which 90% of us are) you can readily transfer bewteen Corps, however this will depend on whether your request is signed off by the Regimental Col of each Corps and then by the Military Secretary (Officer Career Manager). I have done this myself but it will obviously depend on whether or not you are happy with the Corps you have been allocated in the first place.In the second half of OCS you will make three Corps choices. Generally most people get their first or second choice, however the Army will put you where they believe your strengths are.Education is an easy one. All Officer Cadets (unless they already have a degree) are enrolled in the Batchelor of Defence Studies whilst at OCS. They get a few papers gratis during their career due to coursing etc . however they also pay for papers towards this degree which are free unless you fail them. You can also get funded study for Post Grad. A friend of mine has a double degree and the army is paying for his Masters at the moment whilst he works 3 days per week. Staff College is undertaken either in NZ or Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, UK, US or Canada. Generally these courses will go some way towards gaining a Masters of some sort. Hope this helps, from my personal point of view Id check out the aussies and Canadians first, far more forward thinking and more resources and opportunities at their disposal. Rgds and good luck GW

Without an Aussie or Canadian passport and having never been in the military before, not too sure those are on the cards. Half way through a degree at the moment. Just a quick follow up question, does this tertiary funding entail a return of service to the military? And if so, how long is it?

Hi callum, in answer to your second question, yes it does. For every year you study with the help of the military, you give them back one year in service minimum. There may be different requirements depending on degree type/subject, but generally the expected return is one for one plus one year. Hope it helps

Sorry to bring this back from the dead for you two so many months later, but as I am now in the UK all year round for my degree I don't have a careers office to go and talk to and you guys have been very helpful. Anyways, I was looking online at the recently graduated cadets from OCS and I noticed that some of them had automatically been promoted to Lt., is there some sort of new fast promotion scheme for graduates nowadays or was this merely a typo? (I am about to become a 'graduate' so this is something I would obviously hope to be true!)

Sorry to bring this back from the dead for you two so many months later, but as I am now in the UK all year round for my degree I don't have a careers office to go and talk to and you guys have been very helpful. Anyways, I was looking online at the recently graduated cadets from OCS and I noticed that some of them had automatically been promoted to Lt., is there some sort of new fast promotion scheme for graduates nowadays or was this merely a typo? (I am about to become a 'graduate' so this is something I would obviously hope to be true!)

Click to expand...

Well.. I'm not a recruiter so I can't be 100% certain, but when there is a vacancy for a Lt that desperately needs to be filled, I imagine the more promising cadets are given acting rank as Lt to fill the gap. To be honest, you're best not to get your knickers bunched about the possibility of becoming an Lt faster. OCS is hard, and if you're a 2nd Lt at the end of it, at least the old sweats and grizzled campaigners will give you a little leeway in your first year or so (fresh and green officers often make little mistakes). If you're filling the shoes of a guy one step over your expected rank, they most likely won't be as kind and understanding (and you may have longer-serving 2Lt's waiting for you to trip at every turn because they think they should be in your place, been there longer, blah blah blah)

Woe betide the young officer who loses the faith of his SNCO's, and you'd be far better off to get the corners rounded off as a sprog before taking on a job that actually has some weight behind it.

Why???? Given the size of the NZA I take it you want to move to the other end of the corridor!

Click to expand...

It may be smaller but I still believe that the NZ Army is a more flexible force (in terms of employee-employer relations) which also provides better benefits (this is obviously subjective, I just mean benefits that I would appreciate more). That, and the All Blacks are first and foremost in my heart.

Fair point about the difference between 2Lt and Lt, I was only asking cause there is a substantial pay difference between starting as a 2Lt and Lt.